And it is Manoy who will go before the city council on Wednesday to present the long-awaited Dallas Bikeway System Status Update. It will more or less says the same thing oft repeated at Dallas City Hall since cyclists set their bike racks next to 1500 Marilla, which is: Things aren’t as good as they could be, but they’re better than they used to be. Why, he’s even hoping to have a bike-sharing program in place by the fall — which would only put Dallas a few months behind Fort Worth.

Just getting those bike-lane markers down and signs up is a giant first step, as far as Manoy’s concerned. At least it reminds motorists than cyclists may be present, says Manoy, “and it gets the general public to accept that this is a mode of transportation. … Once the motorists start to get a little more accustomed to see it and thinking about it and it gets in their consciousness, that’s how we start making a change. And it may be wishful thinking on my part.”

The new Jefferson Boulevard cycle track, prompted by the closure of Houston Street Viaduct to make way for streetcars

He certainly wishes he had more money: As the update show the city’s confident it can hit its 2012-2014 “near-term” goals of bike-marking the city center. That money — about a million or so — comes from bond packages earmarked for street redos and from state money and other private and public funds cobbled together to focus on downtown, the trail and cross-the-Trinity routes, Oak Cliff, Uptown and eventually East Dallas. But the medium- and long-term goals, which the city hopes to hit within a decade, expand in all directions. And the money’s not there, not yet. And from where will it pull up? Bond programs, private donations, grants, the general fund — yes, no, maybe. The update says they’re options.

Manoy, though, he isn’t worried. “We’ve been applying for grants, and I suspect as with streetcar money, it’ll find its way. At one point in the 10-year period we’ll get a grant that’ll give us a lot of ammunition to get more done.”

That more, spelled out below, is the combination of options, from those shared-bike markings to the separated lanes favored by Angela Hunt; nothing’s changed on that front. An oft-discussed cyclists’ website, containing the rules of the road and bikeway maps and implementation updates, is also scheduled to debut next month. And while there are many miles to go, Manoy is quick to remind: Something’s better than nothing, which is what was there before.

When asked which kind of lane he prefers — shared, buffered, separated, painted green — he says, well, “it depends on who you talk to. There’s the classic rider who doesn’t think we need to do striped lanes, who thinks that when we did the 1985 bike plan it was perfect because it didn’t have any marked lanes. But it was done by cyclists, and they ride all the time and aren’t afraid to get in the street. Keep in mind, this plan is geared more toward the recreational cyclists, so as much as possible we tried to fit in cycle tracks. But there are some places where it’s not physically possible. Those are where the shared lanes come in.”

The briefing is below. And it’s filled with all kinds of good news for cyclists: upcoming events, bike sharing, talk of strengthening ordinances (including helmet laws), a Bicycle Advisory Working Group. Manoy knows the city needs to take off its training wheels. Then again, look at enlightened New York …

“Unlike in New York, where you had a transportation commissioner say, ‘This is what we’re doing, here nobody has the authority to say that. We have to go through a process, and if a lot of people say, ‘This is a horrible idea,’ it ultimately doesn’t go anywhere. I really think the way that changes is once people start to see more cycles on the street … I’m trying to do a transportation system for everyone. The whole system isn’t just about cars. We also have to make room for cyclists and pedestrians. We need an integrated system to be successful.”

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